26th April 2019

Thinking big with Glimpse

- written by Laura Snoad

Coming up with brilliant, original ideas for charities and world-changers has been at the heart of Glimpse’s MO since it was founded by former Greenpeace communications director James Turner and creative director Zac Schwarz in 2016. However, they also run day-long Glimpse Studio workshops that teach creativity with purpose and build confidence. The Zetteler squad went to try one out.

Nestled in the Kent countryside just outside the M25, The Quadrangle is a stunning renovated Victorian model farm that’s now an educational space and gathering place for everything from yoga retreats to biodiversity training. Here on a sunny spring morning the entire Zetteler crew plus our studio mate (and constant inspiration) journalist David Michon came together to experience Glimpse Studio, a day-long creative thinking workshop led by James and Zac. Being the masterminds behind projects like Choose Love and a secret hot chocolate salon hidden in a Dalston newsagent, we already knew Glimpse could generate good ideas like no-one’s business. But could they impart their wisdom on us?

Ahead of time we each answered a questionnaire about the personal challenges and big picture issues we were desperate to address. From loneliness to unbridled consumerism to imminent climate catastrophe, Glimpse channeled these sprawling concerns into two concise briefs for us to tackle, alongside mindfulness exercises, jaunts into nature and some damn good food. We won’t give away exactly what went down – you’ll just have to book one for your own team – but every one of us came away recharged, full of ideas and with a reinforced sense of confidence. Here’s what we learned…

Think wide

So much of idea generation at work is finding a solution to an existing problem – how we can deliver X for Client Y or achieve a specific goal. At Glimpse Studio, there was no such containment. The briefs didn’t prescribe a specific outcome and allowed us to think far outside our own sector. Given our specialities, design often came up but so did music, food and even pottering. ‘Focusing on “problems” much bigger than any individual client project, Zetteler project or personal hobby opened our minds as a team to tackle societal needs with passion, purpose and playfulness,’ says Sabine. The process of dreaming up ideas was more important than the outcome. We learned how to collaborate, how to develop an idea and how to encourage each other. That said we also came up with a dozen viable solutions for solving loneliness and healing divided communities post-Brexit, all in the space of a few hours. It’s amazing how many brilliant ideas you can have when everyone’s riffing off each other.

‘Yes, and…’

James and Zac changed our world when they introduced us to an old improv exercise called ‘Yes, and…’. The premise is that rather than find fault with an idea, you build on it. ‘It meant no idea was too wild,’ says Emma. ‘It passed on the energy, thinking and approach that anything is possible.’ We found that fully absorbing the ‘Yes, and…’ mentality rather than a ‘No, but…’ approach totally changed the quality of our debates. ‘It meant we weren’t quashing something before the dream had been given the space to be realised,’ Katie adds. Practicalities and detail didn’t hinder our ambition. Having a focused facilitator was a powerful tool for leading discussion and creating a safe space to get the best from and look after the group. ‘James and Zac listened to everyone and, crucially, pushed us to finish communicating our ideas rather than tailing off just before the most creative and potentially risky bit (the best bit!),’ says Rupert. ‘I found myself losing track of whose idea was whose, which removed ego from the discussions and made the concepts stronger.’

Shift the context

The ‘contextual shift’ of switching to a different location was a game-changer for the team. We weren’t brainstorming knowing that we had to take a call in 30 minutes or dash out to a meeting. We were focused, commitment-free and present. In addition, the Quadrangle felt like returning to the home of an eccentric great-uncle, complete with the smell of a wood-burner, much-loved nicknacks and endless cups of tea. The environment helped us to shrug off our work personas, habits and hierarchies to truly relax. The day was peppered with palette cleansers (from drawing exercises to a trip to the river) so we never felt burnt out from all that thinking. ‘Resets and check-ins before starting group time was a massively helpful process to align the energy of the group and create a healthy, positive space for discussion,’ says Jess. We ended the day outside with a circular clapping exercise, which required brain power, coordination and speed. ‘This meant the team left feeling energised, rather than tired,’ says Georgia. ‘I’m still thinking how we can somehow bring this into our client meetings’.

The Zetteler + Glimpse team

Switch up teams

As soon as we entered Glimpse Studio, our roles and working relationships melted away into the well-worn antique rugs. We’re a tight family at Zetteler but we don’t work all together day-to-day – collaborating with new people helped hone communication skills and forced us to step out of old patterns. ‘That cross-communication of our humans was really special for me,’ says Sabine. We learned how to listen (and how hard it can be to do it well) and because the experience was entirely new for everyone, no-one could defer to experience or seniority. Zac and James ensured that every member of the team had the same airtime, and introverts were given the space to shine.

Make it fun

From climate change to Brexit to homelessness, the issues of our age are serious. But we learned from Glimpse that this doesn’t mean your messaging has to be depressing. Zac and James pushed us to develop ideas that were joyful and therefore more likely to activate our target audience to get involved – because who doesn’t want to save the world and have fun doing it! ‘Despite the size, scale or scope of a problem, a truly impactful solution demands flexibility, humour, free-flowing chat and wildly blue sky thinking,’ says Chris. Every time our ideas started getting too ‘worthy’, James and Zac would remind us to inject a bit of magic. Yes, an issue might be hard-hitting, sad and deeply important, but the solution should help people to believe that a better world is possible. It’s a mantra we can’t wait to put into action.

Want to find out more about what Glimpse do when they’re not helping us be our best selves? Read our interview with James.